It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Never mind that it was 60 degrees in D.C. yesterday...it's still beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Hartings' household. We've got the tree trimmed, the cookies baked, (most of) the presents wrapped, and innumerable construction paper crafts hanging on the fridge!

It's been a festive couple of weeks around here. We decorated our first gingerbread house, thanks to a very generous friend who is a fabulous baker. We made five dozen butter cookies with friends one day, and then iced and sprinkled four dozen sugar cookies with our neighbors a week later (don't even ask who's eating all of them...I won't fess up!) And last weekend, Kaitlyn and I went to see a children's version of the Nutcracker Ballet, complete with a half-hour lesson at the end. Kaitlyn kept leaning over to whisper, "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" She may not be graceful, the poor dear, but she knows grace when she sees it!

Now it's time to kick back, put on some Christmas movie classics, and feast on sugary treats before we all head to Ohio to be with family. Merry Christmas!!

A Christmas Miracle!

It is truly nothing short of a miracle that both Kaitlyn and Claire sat on Santa's lap this year! We took a ride on the Santa Train in northern Maryland this afternoon, and though there was no snow to be seen and the temps were in the 50s, it was a festive time with friends. The kids may claim that the best part of the trip was standing in the open car, watching the scenery go by as the wind blew through their hair, but I maintain that the highlight was watching the girls hop on Santa's lap.

And what did they ask for, you may ask? This is where it gets really good...or really bad, if you are Matt and me! Kaitlyn wants a Barbie hair salon that uses real water and markers to dye the doll's hair (imagine cleaning up after that!) and Claire wants a robot monkey (what?! exactly our thought, until she explained that she saw it in Toy Story 3...yeah, that's right...the scary, cymbal-clapping monkey from horror flicks is what our sweet girl wants from Santa!) We should have some good stories this year!